This presentation will focus on areas where FSI has seen a need for improving the English language ability of its non-native speaking staff. The presentation will discuss common needs and ways that FSI has addressed these needs.

In this presentation, Beth Mackey will review the use of English testing at her agency, examine issues related to the original test, and describe the development of two new English tests, one for selection and one for placement.

Provides an overview of English language issues faced by INSCOM CLPMs and the remediation methods and resources available to help assigned military linguists improve their skills. The goal is to develop linguists that are equally capable in both the target language and English, which will result in better intelligence products for supported Commanders.

The presenter will provide an overview of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE) and discuss how it's Division of Adult Education and Literacy (DAEL) is a major provider of educational services for adult learners, including adult English Language Learners. The presenter will focus on OCTAE's initiatives that support the professional development of ESL teachers and teachers of students with low-level literacy. Emphasis is placed on increasing the awareness and use of OCTAE's online, freely available professional development (PD) resources for teachers. Handouts with web resources will be provided.

The speakers, pulling from their experience as community college teachers of academic writing and as ESL materials writers, will discuss strategies for developing clarity and fluency in workplace writing. First, they will outline a number of key concepts meant to guide supervisors/colleagues in defining their roles and expectations as "writing mentors." Second, they will discuss concrete methods of helping non-native speakers with specific types of common workplace language, including summarizing, hedging, and expressing numerical information.

10:15 AM -10:30 AM

Break

10:30 AM -11:15 AM

Developing Critical Thinking and Analytical Skills for Government Service (English for Heritage Language Speakers (EHLS) Program)

Deborah Kennedy, English for Heritage Language Speakers (EHLS) Program

The English for Heritage Language Speakers (EHLS) program, sponsored by the National Security Education Program (NSEP), enables native speakers of critical languages to develop the ILR Level 3 English language skills required by analytical positions in the federal government. Achievement of such proficiency depends on the development of the higher order skills that support abstract thinking, hypothesizing, and supported opinion. However, the application of such skills is often influenced by cultural factors. This presentation will describe two components of the EHLS instructional program - the News Analysis course and the Open Source Analytical Research capstone project - that enable participants to recognize the cultural influences on their thinking and address them appropriately.

In developing an effective online professional writing course for multi-level non-native English speakers, many valuable lessons were learned. Successes, challenges, and solutions will be shared by the project directors of the Center for Advanced Proficiency in English (CAPE) from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County as they discuss the pilot of their online course called Advanced Professional Writing in English.